Turmoil at the City Lord's Estate

Ye City, City Lord's Estate. City Lord Duan Xiu stepped out of his meditation room and gazed in the direction of the prison, his brow tightly furrowed. "Who could be so bold as to dare break into this place to rescue prisoners?!" He had once been a military commander before being transferred to Ye City as City Lord. His time in the army had tempered him into someone who remained calm in the face of danger. Coolly analyzing the situation, he summoned a subordinate. "To dare stage a jailbreak inside the city, the intruders must be at least early Body Integration. Men! Quickly send word to the four neighboring cities for reinforcements, and have them notify the army stationed nearby!" "Yes, sir!" Duan Xiu donned the black battle armor from his campaigning days and put on his helmet, feeling as though he had returned to the army of over a century ago. "Husband, what in the world is—" "Dad, what happened?" Duan Xiu's wife and son had also noticed the commotion. Coming out of their rooms, they saw Duan Xiu clad in armor, their faces filled with worry. The resolute look in Duan Xiu's eyes softened. He grasped his wife's hand and said earnestly, "It's just a bunch of scoundrels. Don't you know what I'm capable of? Nothing will happen." Besides, Ye City still had a secret weapon that had yet to be deployed. "Then please be careful." His wife and son were deeply worried about him. Without looking back, Duan Xiu waved his hand and called out, "All right, go back and get some rest!" After bidding farewell to his wife and son, Duan Xiu headed to the secret chamber beneath the City Lord's Estate. Few people knew that hidden beneath Ye City was a Body Integration-level city-defending formation. Once activated, even if it could not defeat the culprits, it would easily hold them off until reinforcements arrived. He twisted a book on a shelf. With a clatter, the bookshelf slid aside, revealing a stone door. He channeled spiritual energy into the door, and it opened to reveal a long tunnel. He moved swiftly down the tunnel, arriving at the subterranean chamber. As he passed through the tunnel, oil lamps mounted on the stone walls lit up one by one, all the way to the deepest part of the secret room— "What?!" Upon stepping into the room, he was struck with horror. The formation eye of the city-defending formation carved into the wall had been utterly destroyed, ruined beyond any possibility of repair! "How is this possible?!" Without his spiritual energy acting as the key, nobody could have broken in here! "Surprised, City Lord Duan?" A ghostly voice came from behind City Lord Duan. "Who's there?!" City Lord Duan whipped around. He had kept his spiritual energy flared the entire time, yet he hadn't noticed anyone approaching. The other party's cultivation was above his own! The intruder gave a name City Lord Duan had never heard before: "Emotionless Cult, Wu Lei." "It really is you people from the Emotionless Cult!" City Lord Duan glared warily at Wu Lei, subtly touching his storage ring to draw a red-tasseled spear. "It seems you split your forces in two—one side to break out the prisoners, and the other to tie me down!" Wu Lei shook his head slightly and said flatly, "Rescuing them was merely a cover. Our true purpose here is to kill you!" "What nerve!" The red-tasseled spear soared like a dragon vaulting into the ninth heaven, its spear tip blazing with searing radiance and surging flames. Though he was in the Void Refining stage, he currently possessed Body Integration stage combat power, and he had no fear of this Emotionless Cult member named Wu Lei! Wu Lei spread his hands slightly, arcs of electricity dancing across his fingertips, whipping up a violent thunderstorm within the cramped secret chamber! *Pfft—* Caught in the center of the thunderstorm, with lightning raging around him, City Lord Duan was jolted into numbness before the red-tasseled spear could even reach Wu Lei. Unable to control his own body, he dropped the spear with a loud clatter. "Did City Lord Duan not know that even among Body Integration cultivators, there is still a difference between high and low?" Wu Lei's voice carried not a trace of mockery, yet given the circumstances, the sting of ridicule was all the sharper! "How can this be?!" Completely numb from the electricity, City Lord Duan lacked even the strength to clench his fists as he stared incredulously at Wu Lei. Even if there were differences in strength within the Body Integration stage, it shouldn't have been decided in a single move. The thunderstorm just now had struck directly at his weaknesses in every respect! "What's so impossible about it?" A voice that could not have been more familiar sounded from behind Wu Lei. "Wenwu?!" City Lord Duan's eyes widened as he watched his son, Duan Wenwu, step out from behind Wu Lei. "You're an Emotionless Cult mole?!" The existence of the secret chamber, his own weaknesses... if his son had leaked all of this, then everything made sense! Looking at his immobilized father, Duan Wenwu smiled. "I haven't truly joined the Emotionless Cult yet. Only after I kill you will I count as a member." To join the Emotionless Cult, one had to kill their closest kin. And Duan Wenwu's closest kin were his parents. Yet his cultivation was too low. Even if City Lord Duan stood there and let him strike, he couldn't harm a single hair on Duan Xiu. As City Lord, Duan Xiu also possessed life-preserving treasures bestowed by the imperial court. Therefore, he needed to ask higher-ups of the Emotionless Cult to take action. The Emotionless Cult's higher-ups wouldn't help him for nothing. To secure their aid, he had promised to help open Ye City's treasury and let Wu Lei take whatever he wished. "Why?!" City Lord Duan's eyes were bloodshot as he struggled against the lightning rampaging within his body. "Why? You still have the nerve to ask why?!" At this question, Duan Wenwu seemed to have a nerve struck, his expression turning manic. "You never used your privilege to trade favors with sects so I could enter a super-rank sect or a first-rank sect, nor did you let me enjoy the treasures in the treasury to boost my cultivation! That's why I'm already twenty-five years old, yet my cultivation is still stuck at the Golden Core stage! "I'm the son of a City Lord, yet you never once used your privileges for me! "Mother only comforted me, saying I was naturally unsuited for cultivation and could pursue an official career! "An official career, an official career, an official career—are you trying to make me as rigid and stubborn as you?! "Did you two ever consider my feelings?! "Since you named me Wenwu—Literary and Martial—where is the 'Martial'?!" A twenty-five-year-old at the Golden Core stage was actually not slow in cultivation talent, but this was not the result of Duan Wenwu's own diligence; it was achieved through City Lord Duan using his personal savings to elevate his son. This was already the limit. Duan Wenwu's natural aptitude was too poor; to advance any further, the heavenly treasures required were far beyond what City Lord Duan could provide. "Trading favors comes at the expense of the people of Ye City! The treasury belongs to the imperial court, not to me personally! How could I give it to you—" "Enough! Stop talking!" Duan Wenwu roared in fury. "Since you insist on clutching onto your City Lord airs, don't blame me for being heartless!" The Emotionless Cult possessed methods to improve one's aptitude, which required the heart-blood of family members as a medicinal catalyst. The higher the family member's cultivation, the better the catalyst's effect. With his father being a Void Refining cultivator, he might transform into a dual spiritual root genius! "Wenwu..." City Lord Duan's vision blurred. Looking at the unfamiliar Duan Wenwu, scene after scene flashed through his mind: his son's birth, his babbling attempts at speech, learning to walk, climbing trees to raid bird nests, having his palms slapped by the tutor, reciting books through tears, testing his spiritual roots, Qi Induction... Such a good child—how had he ended up like this? Seeing his father like this, Duan Wenwu's tone suddenly softened, and he sighed. "Father, I love you and Mother, but I want to grow stronger even more. For that, I have no choice but to sacrifice you two. I hope you can understand. "True Monarch, I trouble you to take action!" Duan Wenwu bowed to Wu Lei, killing intent flashing in his eyes. "My parents, and everyone in the City Lord's Estate—please kill them all!" If the court learned that he had joined the Emotionless Cult, they would surely use that lead to pursue him, creating endless trouble. For this reason, he had reported the Emotionless Cult's Ye City branch, having everyone there arrested. Then Wu Lei and another high-ranking member of the Emotionless Cult used that as an excuse to make their move—breaking into the prison, while slaughtering his father, who resisted stubbornly, along with everyone in the City Lord's Estate. He would appear on the casualty list; Duan Wenwu would cease to exist in this world, allowing him to smoothly join the Emotionless Cult without fearing an imperial investigation. The Emotionless Cult prioritized profit above all. Having offered True Monarch Wu Lei so many benefits, once he joined the cult, he would naturally receive True Monarch Wu Lei's patronage. Wu Lei said nothing. Thunderous light surged across his entire body, condensing into a bolt of lightning within his palm. "Farewell, City Lord Duan." *Whoosh—* A sword light descended from the sky, carving a bottomless chasm between Wu Lei and City Lord Duan, slicing open the secret room along with the study above it. Wu Lei looked up abruptly, glaring fixedly at the sword-wielding old Daoist above, and squeezed four words through gritted teeth: "Daoist Buyu!" Daoist Buyu scrutinized Wu Lei. Gradually, the face matched someone in his memories, and realization dawned on him. "You're Wu Lei? It's been over a thousand years since we last met, hasn't it? I recall that back when I joined the Emotionless Cult, you were at late Body Integration. How come you're still at late Body Integration now? "Your Emotionless Cult's cultivation methods really don't work, do they?"